Folding clothes rack for automobiles



P. F. HooTs FOLDING CLOTHES RACK FOR AUTOMOBILES Aug. 24, 1948.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 10, 1945 Aug. 24,1948.

Filed Dec.

P. F. HOOTS 2,447,908

FOLDING CLOTHES RACK FOR AUTOMOBILES 10, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PAULT. HOOTS Patented Aug. 24, 1948 momma cLo'mEs neck roa auromoamas Paul F. Hoots, New Orleans, La.

Application December 10, 1945. Serial No. 633,943 8 Claims. (or. 224-421) The present invention relates to improvements in folding clothes racks for automobiles and more particularly has for an object to produce a folding rack adapted to be placed in the root of an automobile or other vehicle adapted to receive the conventional garment hangers by which a number of articles of clothing may be suspended in the vehicle in a position similar to that in which pressed garments are hung in closets at home.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved automobile clothing rack to satisfy the needs of the motoring public for an adequate and substantial support on which wearing apparel may be hung when touring.

A iurther object of the invention resides in promoting the convenience and comfort of the mtorist and tourist by including as a permanent accessory in automobiles a clothes rack which will be concealed by the upholstery and normally in a folded state whereby its presence will not be observed or obtruded upon the attention of the passengers in the vehicle but is susceptible of immediate projection into an operative position where it may receive a number of garment hangers all held in spaced relation against the vibration and jarring of the vehicle and suspended in such a position as not to interfere with the vision of the driver through the rear window.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the severai views,

Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view 0! a vehicle equipped with an improved folding clothes reel: constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical fragmentary section taken on an enlarged scale on the line 2-2 of Figure 3 and showing-"the garment hanger support in the "down" operative position;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the folding rack apart from the vehicle with the garment hanger support in the raised or collapsed position;

Figure 4 is a vertical section similar toFigure 3 and showing the garment hanger support raised and locked in place; c

Figure 5 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 5-8 of Figure 2;

Figure 8 is a similar section taken on the line H of Figure 3, and

Figure '7 is a horizontal section taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 6.

Referring more particularly to the drawings. which show only one embodiment of which the invention is susceptible, l0 designates the automobile to which will be attached the device H, to the underside of the roof i2.

The rack device generally designated it comprises a shallow box or casing having a bottom wall 30, shallow side walls It and outwardly ex tending flanges 13 which may be welded Or otherwise secured to the underside of the roof it which forms the top of the enclosure, within which the means for supporting the hanger rod it is contained. This enclosure also contains the hanger rod stops it having the feet or flanges It secured as by the tastenings It to the bottom wall at and being arched upwardly as shown in Figure 5.

A spring detent generally indicated as W is also mounted within the casting on the upper side of the bottom wall 3t.

The hanger rod or support M is substantially U-shaped having the right angularly extending arms H the terminal endsof which are inturned to constitute trunnions N rotatably received in the bearing sockets ll of bearing blocks H atfixed upon the upper side or the bottom wall It within the confines of the casing.

The casing is sufficiently shallow to fit within the normal space between the car root i2 and the upholstery line 20. A plate It is provided to cover that area of the upholstery which encompasses the bottom plate 30 and this plate iii may be secured through the upholstery 20 to the bottom wall 30 by screws or other appropriate fastenings iii. The bottom face of the plate iii may be given any ornamental appearance.

Registering U-shaped slots 2! and 22 are provided respectively in the plate is and bottom wall 36 of a size and shape to receive the clothes hanger support rod it and its arms W, whereby this U-shaped support may move into and out or the casing, as compare Figure 5 and 6.

As shown more particularly in Figure "I, the detent casing l8 confines a coil spring i8 for yieldably urging a plunger lt against a cylinder head out through which projects a she it it carried by the plunger f6 and terminated at its outer end in a ball head li normally projected in an overhanging relation to the slots 2i and 2 I, for which see Figure 6. The rod i4 is preferably of a rounded cross section and is so related to the spherical curvature of the ball it when in its 'cal surface of the ball I8" projected position that one semicircular side of the rod I will encounter the head I! in the raising movement of the rod l4, causing the detent to be retracted for the upward passage of the rod I; after which the spring I! will again project the ball l6 to the position shown in Figure 6. thus holding the rod ll elevated within the casing.

As shown to advantage in Figure 2, the bar is provided with a number of spaced notches 23 to receive and to localize in spaced relation a plurality of hooks 32 (Fig. 1) of garment hangers upon which garments may be hung in the usual protective bags Ii.

As shown more particularly in Figure 3, complementary finger and thumb cut-outs 22 and 22! are provided through the plate II and bottom wall 30 on opposite sides of the slots fl and 2| through which the hanger bar I passes.

In the use of the device, the hanger bar ll and its arms M are normally in the raised position entirely within the casing where the same are unrevealed. The support i4. il is retained in this position by the detent I. When its use is required theforei'inger and thumb may be introduced upwardly through the cut-outs 22 and 22' in order to seize the bar I4 and forcibly pull it down against the resilient action of the spring II which will give way to this exercise of force to permit the passage downwardly of the bar ll. The spring I 6 will thereafter immediately again prolect the ball it across the slots 2|, 2|.

After release from the detent, the support II, will seek by gravity the substantially vertical position shown in Figures 1, 2 and where the elongated bar I4 is enabled to receive the hooks 32 of the garment hangers. From an inspection of Figure 1, it will be clear that the relative position of the rack in the vehicle will preferably be such that the garments 3| may hang down freely between the front and back seats without any interference from the upholstery. It will also be clear from Figure 1 that the relative arrangement and construction of the improved folding rack issuch that the bar ll, an elongated bar, extends lengthwise in the direction of length of the vehicle but preferably parallel and to one side of the longitudinal median line of the vehicle so that the garments in the bags 3| do not interpose a barrier to the vision of the driver of the vehicle through the rear window by way of the mirror.

Also all of the parts of the device will preferably be of metal with the support ll, H of resilient metal whereby the trunnions M may be spread outwardly to assemble them into the mutually outturned sockets ll of the bearing blocks H. The trunnions may be assembled at the bearing block I! through the open top of the casing before the casing is assembled to the roof of the vehicle and the stop loops I! may be subsequently assembled to the casing bottom wall above the bar ll.

When the rack is not to be used the bar H is swung upwardly about the trunnions M and required to pass through the slots 2| and 2| until the stop loops I! are encountered-at which time the bar it will have just passed the detent ball head I8 Thus the detent at one side and the limit stops I 5 at the other will confine the bar II in place. Due to the rounded surface configuration of the bar H, the rounded surface configuration of the stop loops i5 and the spheria close fitting of the bar I! between the stops and detent is possible to avoid the annoyance of any rattling incident to the movement of the vehicle.

Also it will be noted that the axes of the trunnions M lie in a longitudinal line of the vehicle and thus braking and accelerating movements of the vehicle will not tend to rotate the trunnions in the sockets which will avoid rattling and wear. For illustration purposes in Figure 2 we have shown the socket ilunduly deep with reference to the lengths of trunnions it" but in practice the inner ends of the trunnions l4 will very closely approach the inner ends of the socket l1 to re- .duce as far as possible the axial play which might give rise to annoying noises 0n sudden longitudinal movements of the vehicle.

While the loops I! act a stops they also give strength in bridging the slot 2| thereby eliminating the possibility of plate I. bending down from weight of garments in the section of plate II in the area surrounded by slots 2| and II.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A folding clothes rack comprising a casing having a bottom wall, side walls and attaching means, said bottom wall having a slot completely therethrough, said slot composed of a longitudinal portion-and arm portions at substantially right angles to the longitudinal portion. one end of one arm portion connecting with one end of the longitudinal portion and one end'of the other arm portion connecting with the other end of the longitudinal portion, bearings in the casing adjacent the other ends of the arm portions, a garment hanger support-bar, and arms each connected at one end with an end of said support bar and having their other ends pivoted in said bearings in position to swing into and out of the casing through the-slot arm portions, said arms being of substantially the same length as the slot arm portions to align said bar for swinging movement into and out'of the longitudinal slot portion.

2. A folding clothes rack as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the fact that a detent means is mounted within said casing comprising a spring-projected latch biased to a position par- 'tially overlapping the longitudinal portion of the slot whereby to be encountered and retracted by said hanger support bar on the movement of the bar into the casing. I

3. A folding clothes rack as claimed in claim 2 wherein stop means is mounted in the casing astride the longitudinal portion of the slot in the path of movement of the bar to restrict the movement of said bar into the casing.

4. A folding clothes rack' as claimed in claim 2 in which finger cut-outs are provided in the casing at opposite sides of the longitudinal slot portion to receive the finger of the operator for grasping and pulling the bar out of the casing. 5. A folding clothes rack as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the fact that the pivotal connection between said arms and bearing blocks comprises inturned trunnions on the arms rotatably mounted in sockets in the bearings, said bar and arms being of resilient material to enable the trunnions to be sprung into said sockets. 6. For use with an'automobile having a roof and an upholstery covering spaced below the-roof.

a folding clothes rack comprising a casing having a bottom wall, side walls, and means on the side walls for attachment of the casing to the automobile roof with the bottom wall in a substantially horizontal plane, said side walls being of substantially the depth of the space between the automobile roof and upholstery covering to enable the covering to extend beneath said bottom wall, said bottom wall having a slot completely therethrough composed of a longitudinal portion and arm portions at substantially right angles to the longitudinal portion, one end of one arm portion connecting with one end of the longitudinal portion and one end of the other arm portion connecting with the other end of the longitudinal portion, bearings in the casing adjacent the other ends of the arm portions, a garment hanger support bar, arms each connected at one end with an end of said support bar and having their other ends pivoted in said bearings in position to swing into and out of the casing through the slot arm portions, said arms being of substantially the same length as the slot arm portions to align said bar for swinging movement into and out of the longitudinal slot portion, and yieldable detent means in the casing in line with the longitudinal slot portion to encounter and latch the support bar in an upper position within the casing.

'7. In combination, an automobile having a roof and an upholstery covering inside the roof and spaced downwardly therefrom, a folding clothes rack comprising a casing-having a bottom wall, side wall and attaching means secured to the roof of the automobile with the bottom wall lying in a substantially horizontal plane within and covered by said upholstery covering, said bottom wall and upholstery covering having a slot completely therethrough composed of a longitudinal portion and arm portions at substantially right angles to the longitudinal portion, one end of one arm portion connecting with one end of the longitudinal portion and one end of the other arm portion connecting with the other end of the longitudinal portion, bearings in the casing adjacent the other ends of the arm portions, a garment hanger support bar, arms each connected at one end with an end of said support bar and having their other ends pivoted in said bearings in position to swing into and out of the casing through the slot arm portions, said arms being of substantially the same length as the slot arm portions to align said bar for swinging movement into and out of the longitudinal slot portion, and yieldable detent means in the casing in line with the longitudinal slot portion to encounter and latch the support bar in an upper position within the casing.

8. In combination with an automobile, a folding clothes rack comprising a casing having a bottom wall, side walls and attaching means attached to the roof of an automobile over the space between the front and back seats to the opposite side of the center line away from the drivers seat, said bottom wall having a slot completely therethrough composed of a longitudinal portion which is parallel with the longitudinal center line of the automobile and arm portions at substantially right angles to the longitudinal portion, one end of one arm portion connecting with one end of the longitudinal portion and one end of the other arm portion connecting with the other end of the longitudinal portion, bear ings in the casing adjacent the other ends of the arm portions, a garment hanger support bar having its long axis arranged longitudinally of the vehicle and having spaced notches to separately receive and retain against jarring the hooks of a plurality of garment hangers, and arms each connected at one end withan end of said support bar and having their other ends pivoted in said bearings in position to swing into and out of the casing through the slot arm portions, said arms being of substantially the same length as the slot arm portions to align said bar for swinging movement into and out of the longitudinal slot portion, and detent means in the casin positioned to be engaged by said bar to hold the bar elevated in the casing.

PAUL F. HOOTS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 512,519 Rey Jan. 9, 1894 681,379 Tidd Aug. 27, 1901 

